Australian Motorcycle News

I WAS up in Queensland riding Suzuki’s fabulous new GSX-8S midsize nakedbike last week when news came through that Triumph had ripped the covers off a new 400cc single-cylinder retro machine that will, like Royal Enfield’s similarly sized single-cyli

Editor Dean Mellor Deputy Editor Kel Buckley Sub Editor Mark Fattore Road Test Editor Pete Vorst News Editor Hamish Cooper Founding Editor George Lynn Art Director Brendon Wise Sir Alan Cathcart, Michael Scott, Ben Purvis, Mat Oxley, Neil Morrison, A

CHINESE BRAND Zeths has plans to expand into new markets and this – the ZFR500R (below, left) – is the first indication of how it will do it. It’s the 1980s-inspired bodywork that grabs the attention first, with overtones of old endurance racebikes.

ZONTES IS another of those up-and-coming Chinese brands that is starting to get noticed. With many rivals shifting to parallel-twin engines, Zontes is planning to leapfrog them with a self-developed three-cylinder engine due to appear in a range of b

YEARS OF spy photos of a KTM 390 Duke replacement seems to be coming to an end, with the project spawning Husqvarna-branded derivatives as seen in what we believe to be the replacement for the Husqvarna Vitpilen 401. And all manufactured by Bajaj, so

Graham Sykes, a 59-year-old Brit, reached 263.6km/h on a UK airfield riding a steam-powered motorcycle he built himself! Iconic Aussie rock band The Angels has been announced as the headline act this year’s National HOG Rally Both Ducati’s Panigale V

IN THE UK, the company has adopted a direct-sales model, leveraging the relative simplicity of electric motorcycles to dodge the need for an extensive dealer network. Instead, bikes are ordered online and delivered to their buyers’ doors by dedicated

The V-twin musclebike that prompted Ducati to take legal action when pictures of a clay model were released (AMCN Vol 58 No 25) has been busted in Bologna. It’s believed the bike will be named Vyper. We’ll need to wait until November’s EICMA to find

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BRAND NEW bikes to the market don’t have a lot in the way of aftermarket accessories, so it can be hard to make your bike your own. But CFMoto has a list of bling to pimp out your 450SR to be a bit closer to Joel Kelso’s Moto3 machine, like a front b

$8994 (ride away) $8549 (ride away) $8399 (ride away) $11,186 (ride away) ■

937cc V-twin 178kg (dry) $23,100 (ride away) 765cc triple 168kg (dry) $18,450 (ride away) 889cc triple 190kg (wet) $18,899 (ride away) ■

Power 100kW (136hp) Torque 143Nm Weight 243kg (wet, claimed) Fuel Capacity 18 litres Seat height 820mm Price From $25,485 Power 128.7kW (172.6hp) Torque 141Nm Weight 209kg (dry, claimed) Fuel capacity 23 litres Seat height 835mm Price $33,165 (ride a

MOTO GUZZI is the first manufacturer to release active aerodynamics on a production motorcycle beating the likes of Honda and Chinese upstart Benda to the post. Unlike the V100’s active aero which is solely designed to offer better protection from th

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WHEN YOU buy a brand-new motorcycle, you know with absolute certainty that you will lose a huge wad of value the moment you sign the papers. You don’t even have to ride out of the showroom. The money’s gone. But after that hit, it’s just slow depreci

BAGNAIA’S SUNDAY triumph was made all the more remarkable considering how soundly he was beaten the previous day. Like Sunday, this had the ingredients for an all-Ducati, all-Italian scrap early on. Yet not even Bagnaia had an answer for Bezzecchi on

OVER THE past year and a half, it’s been tempting to wonder whether Jake Dixon (Aspar Kalex) would ever win a Moto2 race. But the Englishman made good on his weekend promise to take a late victory away from resurgent Japanese star Ai Ogura (HTA Kalex

GAME ON. If Dani Holgado (Tech3 KTM) seemed to have an iron-like grip on the championship until now, that air of control disappeared at Assen. The Spaniard endured a nightmare weekend, qualifying 27th and last before crashing out on the first lap, wh

TWO DAYS OF domination in the results, and the seventh and eighth 2023 race wins for the championship leader do not tell the whole story of the Donington WorldSSP weekend. Not by a long way. Superpole in WorldSSP was taken by Nico Bulega, from Yari M

HE WASN’T back on track, but Pol Espargaro returned to the MotoGP paddock for the first time since his career-threatening crash at Portimao to meet up with team members. The Catalan has been recovering from three broken vertebrae and a broken jaw. Wh

YOU COULD feel the anticipation on the 50,000-strong weekend crowd at Donington: the feeling that someone could displace the astounding combination of Alvaro Bautista and his Aruba Ducati – and maybe even in more than one short race. Jonathan Rea (Ka

JACK MILLER clarified some outspoken comments made after the German GP in which he implored certain riders not to be “a princess and complain about your bike". The Australian lamented the headlines his quotes caused, calling it “a lot of clickbait an

THE PREMIER CLASS riders' request to change the current schedule has been rebuked by Ducati, which means it will continue as is until the end of 2023. Riders who convened in the Safety Commission agreed Friday’s P1 should not count toward who qualifi

DEAN FERRIS (Brisbane Motorcycles Yamaha) dominated proceedings at Round 6 of the ProMX championship in Toowoomba, with the Yamaha rider starting from pole position before easily winning both MX1 motos. The round win sees Ferris move into the title l

JARED MEES and the Indian Motorcycle team have prevailed at the West Virginia Half Mile, taking the top spot ahead of KTM 790 Duke-mounted Briar Bauman. Championship leader Dallas Daniels came in third on his Estenson Racing Yamaha in the series’ fir

EVER SINCE the BP Sunraysia Rally was resurrected as the Hattah Desert Race, the annual eight-lap, 300km enduro has produced an impressive roster of winners: Ben Grabham, Glenn Kearney, Josh Green, Toby Price, Daniel Milner and Daniel 'Chucky' Sander

OVER 120 riders will contest the Australian Junior Track Championship this coming weekend (8-9 July) at the Barleigh Ranch track just north of Raymond Terrace, NSW. Riders from up and down the east coast, as far away as Melbourne and Townsville, incl

KEYNAN REW has lifted himself to equal second after the second of three rounds of the 2023 SGP2 series. Staged in Gorzow, Poland on 23 June, the 20-year-old Queenslander scored 10 points in his heats – the fifth best – before coming from behind to wi